Ata-Ayi Killed In Toronto

...Victim ID'd in Regent Park shooting
A man’s body lies near a highrise building on Blevins Place in Regent Park yesterday as police investigate the city’s 82nd homicide. Four young men were taken into custody from a home on nearby St. David Walk. 29-year-old Toronto man is city's 82nd homicide victim; Search is on for suspect

December 24, 2007 Betsy Powell Michele Henry Staff Reporters Homicide investigators are reviewing surveillance video to look for clues into Sunday afternoon's fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man in Regent Park. Police today identified the victim as Karim Rashid Ata-Ayi, who was shot to death outside 14 Blevins Place in an open area surrounded by highrise apartments and townhouses. There are many cameras in the vicinity "that capture many areas of the complex so that is being viewed and we do have, in fact, some cooperation from area residents as to persons seen fleeing the area," homicide Det. Stacy Gallant said today.

"Those descriptions have been quite helpful in identifying a number of people who were in and around the scene and we're looking for further people to call us with in regards to who else they might have seen."

Four males - a 17-year-old and three 18-year-olds - who were taken into custody Sunday night were released today without any charges laid.

Ata-Ayi, who was known to police, did not live in Regent Park but did spend time in the area. It's been reported that Ata-Ayi was charged in 2000 with a shooting that happened at a community barbeque in Regent Park. At this point police are looking for only one shooter.

Police are still trying to determine a motive. "He was just hanging out in the park ... the open area in between all the complexes," said Gallant.

A post-mortem is scheduled for Tuesday.

Ata-Ayi is the city's 82nd victim of the year. In 1991, Toronto had 89 homicides, the highest number the city has ever recorded.

The victim's body was kept outside for several hours yesterday as officers cordoned off a large swath of the complex near Shuter and Parliament Sts.

Regent Park, Canada's oldest publicly funded housing communities, is currently undergoing a massive revitalization slated to take 12 years. Phase One of the demolition is complete and construction of new homes has begun in an area bordered by Parliament, Oak, Sackville and Dundas Sts, according to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation's website. The shooting took place in an area south of Dundas where thousands of people are still living.

Joanne Thompson, 50, heard four or five shots while she was finishing up her wash at the local laundromat. She had just returned to her home on St. David Walk when police, some crouching behind brick walls, readied themselves to burst into the adjoining house.